


felt like forever out of the sun

by TheGodWith5Yen



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bonding, Brother-Sister Relationships, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Comfort, Crying, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Mexican Character, Trans Female Character, background leo/nico, both leo and the oc, having fun being kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26624812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGodWith5Yen/pseuds/TheGodWith5Yen
Summary: “You should make a cat, like Festus,” Catalina said as Leo frustratedly set aside the radio. He had added another channel into the mix—hardcore Japanese punk music—a few days before but had not made any progress since and it was getting on his nerves. “Wouldn’t it be fun? To make Festus a friend?”He grinned at her, large and wicked, and Cat grinned right back, a flush on her cheeks as she bounced up and down on the stool. Together, they began making out plans for the design of the automaton cat. Leo drew up what he could and in Cat’s shaky large handwriting she wrote ‘Doctor Hazelnut’ across the top of the paper as straight as she could. “That’s what we’ll call her! She’ll be our Doctor Hazelnut.”
Relationships: Leo Valdez & Original Female Character(s), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	felt like forever out of the sun

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I started writing this a while back, kinda lost it in the collection of WIPs, found it again and gave it an ending and decided to post it so hope you enjoy <3 title from "Trampoline" by Kero Kero Bonito
> 
> small warning: features a small part where trans character feels like her family doesn't want her anymore because they sent her to camp, but that isn't the case she's just young and her mama has a lot on her plate but loves her daughter sooo much

Curious eyes, wide and brown and full of nothing but wonder as they watched Leo, were the first things Leo saw as he glanced over his shoulder to grab a tool. Leo blinked and the eyes blinked back from across the table. “Uh, hi there,” Leo chuckled out and gave a small wave with the tool in his hand, “wanna come watch me?” 

Nothing was said, but the wide eyes moved around the table and— 

A little girl with her hair in messy, lopsided braids tied up with little _ligas_ that had chunky Hello Kitty beads on them came out from around the table. She had a blue blanket wrapped around her head and clutched tight between her small hands so it kept up. The blanket still dragged slightly on the ground though. It was the blanket that gave her away—one of Piper’s little sisters. Leo couldn't remember her name, but it had been an event when Chiron had tried to take the blanket away from the little girl when she had first arrived in the beginning of the summer with an anxious young satyr who was both trying to reassure her and politely tell Chiron off and Leo knew she was one of the kids who would follow Piper around like a little duckling. The little girl sat on the floor and quietly watched Leo as he worked, humming Selena songs under his breath as he adjusted something here and concentrated on a certain part. 

“What is it?” 

Her small soft voice surprised Leo enough that he jumped and caused what he was working on to fly out of hands for a few seconds before dropping back into his palms. Jesus. Leo glanced over at the little girl, who had let the blanket drop from her head and instead rest on her shoulders. Leo could see just how messy the back of her head was now that the blanket wasn’t covering her head and he couldn’t help but laugh, which caused the girl to grin and giggle right back at him. 

Leo held up what he was working on—a small metal radio modified from one he had made previously. It was still playing swing music, but it was now also picking up a random weather channel from Minnesota, which Leo and his siblings found interesting to hear as the Minnesotan weather-people-Leo-couldn’t-remember-what-they-were-called-meteorologist-alright talked and told silly jokes that always made Leo snort and Nyssa and Jake boo at the radio. The little girl stepped closer to the table where he sat, the edge of her blanket edging along his arm as she stood close. “It’s a radio!” 

“It doesn’t look like a radio. My _welo_ has one and- and it’s bigger like this,” she held out her hands to about a foot long, her hands wavering as her elbows struggled to keep her blanket from falling from her shoulders. “This one is tiny! And shiny!” 

Leo laughed as he brought the radio closer to her. “Well, yeah _mija_ , this is a Leo Valdez all original demigod radio! No other like it, and _way_ cooler than anything on the market could ever try and get! I’ve made it with a little celestial bronze, adds some flair, some style, some _je ne sais quoi_ to the overall aesthetic. It doesn’t play much though, it still needs some fine tuning, but it’s pretty cool right?” As the little girl examined the radio, Leo allowed himself a moment to inwardly cringe at himself. He called her _mija_ . _Mija_ ! Like he was some old grandmother or _Tía_ who would pinch cheeks and coddle a child. It made him feel _way_ older than he was, but what else could he call the little girl whose name he didn’t know? Or, well. “I’m Leo Valdez by the way.”

The little girl’s wide brown eyes blinked at him before she grinned, showing a missing tooth along the bottom row of teeth, with a small giggle. “You’re silly! I’m Catalina Garcia. But my mommy calls me Cat or Kitty-Cat and my _welo_ calls me Gatita because I’m little and sweet like a cat!” She grabbed the ends of her blanket and turned around, still speaking about how there was a cat on her blanket and how much she loved her blanket with her whole heart. Leo grinned and listened to this little girl, so shy and quiet only moments ago, talked his head off. For once Leo wasn’t the one who was being loud and taking up all the space, but he found that he liked this sort of attention. The kind that said ‘there is nothing but trust between the two of us’ that made him grin and his fingers tingle with the distinct, familiarity of fire. 

It became a regular, daily routine that Cat would come into the cabin nine workshop and sit on a stool next to Leo as she watched him fix up the radio or various other projects that he worked on so he wouldn’t completely lose his mind from frustration if one thing wasn’t working. They talked back and forth—Leo learned that Cat lived with her grandfather and her mother, and Leo spoke about the time when he used to live with his mom, Cat explained everything she liked about cats and everything she knew about big cats which was surprisingly a lot for a kid her age and when he asked how she knew so much Cat told him that she liked reading big books about all kinds of cats, and Leo explained all he could to Cat about what he was doing and how it all worked, and Cat talked about her siblings and how she liked having so many big brothers and sisters and siblings around even if some of them were intimidating, and Leo told her about his own siblings who would be in the same room working as them as they listened in with small smiles and a few thrown words here and there. 

“You should make a cat, like Festus,” Catalina said as Leo frustratedly set aside the radio. He had added another channel into the mix—hardcore Japanese punk music—a few days before but had not made any progress since and it was getting on his nerves. “Wouldn’t it be fun? To make Festus a friend?” 

And, well, as Leo thought of it, it would be interesting to make automatons of his own. Because yeah, sure, he’s fixed up Festus here and there over the time he has claimed the dragon for himself, but he wasn’t the one who _made_ him. And what was cooler than making something that was essentially living—minus the whole guts and breathing stuff? He grinned at her, large and wicked, and Cat grinned right back, a flush on her cheeks as she bounced up and down on the stool. Together, they began making out plans for the design of the automaton cat. Leo drew up what he could and in Cat’s shaky large handwriting she wrote ‘Doctor Hazelnut’ across the top of the paper as straight as she could. “That’s what we’ll call her! She’ll be our Doctor Hazelnut.”

Leo laughed and placed his hand on her shoulder, Catalina glancing up at him with her big brown eyes and her toothy grin. And, it was funny. Catalina was a daughter of Aphrodite, Piper’s adorable little sister who was shy and quiet and kept her blanket wrapped around herself twenty four-seven, yet Leo couldn’t help but feel a closeness to her that he didn’t feel with a lot of his own siblings. Sure, yeah, he loved them (Nyssa had always been nothing but kind to him and would wrap Leo up into the warmest of hugs and could _literally_ bench press him which was the coolest thing ever, Jake was pretty cool and willing to lend an ear when Leo was trying to work out a problem with a project, and Wendy was pretty cool even if she was weirdly chummy with Mr. D of all people), but he didn’t exactly feel close to them. Leo was still finding his footing with the other children of Hephestus even after about half a year of Leo living at Camp Half-Blood. 

With Catalina, it was easy for Leo to look at her and see a little sister. 

As they all shuffled off to get ready for dinner, Leo helped little Catalina get up from the high stool she sat on and carefully tied her blanket—which was apparently named Pinkie—around her shoulders. Catalina grinned up at Leo, sweet and adorable, and clutched onto Leo’s hand as they walked out behind a few of his siblings who were casually talking and wiping grease off their faces. 

It didn’t take long to catch sight of the Aphrodite cabin—they were one of the largest cabins at Camp Half-Blood, neck and neck with the Hermes cabin for the most kids—with Piper at the lead, with her freshly dyed green bangs and the large jean jacket that Leo knew for a fact she had stolen from Jason months beforehand and wearing black tights with holes at the knees with frayed shorts. Still, with Piper’s grunge girl look, she wasn’t the standout of the Aphrodite cabin, with some kids wearing only pink or black (they were the type of kids who even made their own custom Camp Half-Blood shirts so, really Leo had to give them props for that) or like they were going to go to an eighties themed party with colorful high-waisted bell bottoms. 

“Alright, c’mon Gatita, let’s get you over with your siblings.” Leo said as he began to walk towards where Piper and Drew were counting heads and making sure each and every sibling was accounted for. Already, the Athena cabin was lined up and marching forward, but the Aphrodite kids were still getting in order and being rambunctious. 

Cat pouted and tugged at his hand, “Why can’t I stay with you Leo?”

Leo glanced down at her and thought of all the times he glanced over and saw her sitting quietly eating her food. Piper and some of her other siblings tried to talk to her, but Cat always closed up whenever they tried. “You have to line up with your siblings. It’s camp rules. _Buuuuut_.”

“But?” 

“Once I get my food I’ll go sit with you. How do you like the sound of that?” Leo usually sat with his siblings or his boyfriend, but Nico wasn’t currently at Camp Half-Blood and his siblings would understand _why_ he wasn’t sitting with them. The smile Cat gave him was worth it and she gave him a nod before running off to stand next to Piper, who laughed when she saw Cat and squatted down to talk to her. Cat only nodded in response, but Piper looked happy as she glanced over her shoulder and waved to Leo. 

Something cold and slick touched the back of his neck, causing Leo to screech and jump up. Laughter, low and with familiar hitches of breath that were close to small snots, told him who it was before Leo turned around and saw Piper in all her glory—her green bangs were pulled back with the kind of Hannah Montanna hair clips that could somehow still be found at the 99 Cent Store, someone had drawn an intricate sunflower in paint along her left cheek, and two Otter Pops were in her hands. Piper grinned and held out a bright blue pop, “C’mon Leo. It’s hot today and I think everything can wait for an Otter Pop.”

“Piper, if you weren’t a lesbian and I weren’t in a very committed relationship I would be on one knee.” Leo muttered as he stood up, popped about a thousand bones in his body as he stretched, and gratefully took the glorious blue Otter Pop into his hands. “Gods, blue is the _best_ flavor.” 

His best friend just laughed and nudged him with her shoulder as they walked out towards a shade of a nearby tree. After they settled down underneath the tree, Leo couldn’t help but ask, “Where’re your little ducklings at?” A lot of the kids thought Piper was the coolest person ever—her or Percy, who was way awkward with kids; it was hilarious—and would follow her around. Even Catalina, who didn’t speak much, would follow Piper along with other of the younger kids. 

Piper rolled her eyes and licked a bit of juice off the side of the plastic of the Otter Pop. “Rachel is having a face painting session and Percy is out there with Mrs. O’Leary and Blackjack. Last I saw Rachel was making Catalina into a cat and telling her about how she used to volunteer at an animal shelter. That little girl sure loves cats, huh?” That explains that lack of children trying to come up to Piper right now. Whenever Rachel pulled out the paint the kids went ballistic with happiness and the need to get it on their face or in between their fingers. 

It was an understatement that Catalina loved cats, but Leo just chuckled and chewed on his piece of ice. “Yeah, well, guess her mom named her right. How has she been with you guys? I worry about her. Especially in this heat.” Leo had only seen Catalina take her blanket off twice in the past few weeks and once had been in her excitement as she watched Leo put together parts for Doctor Hazelnut. And the heat inside the workshop of the Hephestus cabin could become unbearable at times, even for Leo who was flame resistant.

“The heat convinced her to keep her blankie on her bunk, thank the gods for that.” Piper said with a sigh as she crunched on some ice. “Thanks for letting her stay around with you. She’s my little sister but she just won’t open up with me! I mean, I think she likes me, but I don’t know… I keep on trying to get Aphrodite to help me out on this but good ol’ mom is minding her own business for this one.” Piper rolled her eyes again and shook her head. 

“The gods minding their own business? Sounds like a dream come true!” Leo joked with a grin that made Piper snort and elbow his side. “Oh right, right! Sorry! I am just jesting, oh mighty gods of old, oh beautiful great gods!” They laughed some more and fell into each other, hoping that the gods weren’t actually paying them any mind because Leo did _not_ want to deal with a week long curse from any of them.

Doctor Hazelnut was nearly finished up with. Leo had been working primarily on the cat automaton since it was a joint project between him and Cat, though he would get back to his radio now and then and had managed to add more music into the mix—an oldies nineties channel, country music, and, for some reason, the soundtrack of the Disney princess movie Tangled that had made nearly everyone at camp go crazy singing along and acting out to until Chiron forced Leo to turn off the radio and get them all back in their cabins. Catalina was sitting on her usual stool next to Leo, watching intently as he worked on connecting wires and gears at the back of Doctor Hazelnut’s neck—which, if all goes right, should be the end of their project. Still, Cat didn’t look comfortable, her back straight and her eyes locked on Leo’s hands, avoiding Nico, who sat next to Cat on a shorter wooden stool with his back against the table. 

Leo was talking back and forth to the both of them and he could see that Nico was trying his best to get Cat to open up, but the little girl stayed tight lipped and pressed her chin to her chest. Nico pushed back at his hair—long and curling slightly in a way and _oh_ Leo just realized he hadn’t kissed his boyfriend in weeks, he should once they got up for lunch—and raised an eyebrow at Leo. Okay, message received. Mission save his boyfriend from talking to a seven year old. 

“Hey Cat. Want to come with me to get some Otter Pops?” Leo asked as he stuck his tongue out at Nico, who only rolled his eyes and instead pulled out a whole embroidery hoop from inside his jacket and started to sew, a small smile on his lips. “Wait are you-”

“Can you get me a blue one?” Nico asked with a grin, wide and wicked, and Leo couldn’t help but roll his eyes and raise up his hands because alright, okay, like he wasn’t _not_ going to get Nico a blue Otter Pop now. Catalina slid off her stool, grasped Leo’s hand, and calmly followed him out and towards Cabin Three, where Percy was known to keep whole stashes full of snacks since he was more often than not the only person in Cabin Three.

Leo was swinging their hands back and forth before stopping—Cat’s blanket was slowly falling down her shoulders with each big movement. “Why do you keep Pinkie with you Cat? Not that I’m saying not to! It’s your blanket! But…” Cat slowed down and pressed her face into her blanket before pulling away, her cheeks flushed pink and her eyes watering. Okay abort, abort, what do you do when you accidentally make a kid cry? Leo was on his way to apologizing and running to get about a thousand Otter Pops and Sour Patch Kids when Cat cried out— 

“I miss my mommy! And my Welo! And my house!” The flood seemed to be open because big, fat tears streamed down her face and she continued on. “I thought- Mommy said it would be fun to spend time with all my sisters and my brothers and make new friends, but I know she’s just trying to get rid of me and never pick me up and—and—and I forgot to get my Simba so all I have is Pinkie so I’ll never see my Simba again or my mom!” Leo knelt down and wrapped his arms around Cat, who cried into his chest and clutched at his shirt. Every other time Leo had picked her up, she had laughed and said he was stinky like sweat, but now she just cried and cried. He thought about how much she cried when Chiron had tried to take away her blanket when she showed up. 

As her cries began to fade, Leo asked, “Did your mom say anything about not picking you back up when summer ends?” Cat sniffled and shook her head. Well, thank the gods for that at least. Maybe this was more of a misunderstanding than her mother actually trying to abandon her. Catalina _was_ young, one of the youngest campers here, and if there was one thing Leo could remember from being Cat’s age was how big everything around him felt. Big emotions in his chest that beat like a drum ready to explode. Big adults who towered over him and pushed him around. Big, big, big. “Why do you think your mommy won’t then? Every story you tell me about her tells me how much she loves you Gatita.” 

Cat’s lips trembled. “But—maybe she used to, but… but it’s been different! Now that I’m Catalina it’s been different! We had to move and mommy’s busy with her restaurant and sent me here! It’s different and she won’t want me back, I know it!” 

_Now that I’m_ — 

The words processed and Leo whispered, “oh.” He could see how, in her mind, this was all somehow on her and that her mother might never want her back, but Leo was a teengager with critical thinking skills a seven year old lacked and he could see what Catalina’s mom had been thinking. Opening a new restaurant was hard work, and from what Cat told him her grandfather was sick so what better way for Catalina to have a nice time than to send her to a camp that was filled with siblings of hers and lots of fun activities? Leo held Catalina tightly and said, “Hey, let’s go visit your mom real quick, what do you say?” 

The two of them were awkwardly sitting in a flowery loveseat with their legs touching. Nico was glancing around at the wall at family photos and paintings of the Lady de Guadalupe, which to Leo was objectively funny seeing as Cat’s mom had an affair with the Greek goddess of love but he held his tongue and instead tapped his hands against his knees. Leo glanced over at Nico, who was tracing the lines of the raven ornament on his cane and staring at the pink and white tile of the living room. They could hear sniffling from the other room and Mrs. O’Leary in the front yard chewing on a palm tree, but with a shared look they had both decided to leave it be. 

When they had shown up at the Garcia household, Catalina’s mother—a short and pretty woman who had long bright blue hair with black roots beginning to show—had opened the door to them for a moment before bursting into tears and picking up Catalina in her arms before dragging her off to another room where Cat’s grandfather was resting. Leaving Leo and Nico in the living room, the two of them unsure on what to even do so they sat quietly, staring, waiting. 

When Catalina’s mother finally came back, she gave them both a sheepish smile as she wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry for leaving you both over here. Gatita told me how you’ve been there for her Leo so thank you so, so much. I didn’t know she felt like… I just thought that while things have been so hard lately, it would be better for her to go off and be with her siblings and make friends.” She glanced down at her feet and before Leo could say anything, she perked back up. “Sorry, sorry! Why don’t I get you boys some food before you all get back to camp? We have some carne asada, what do you say?”

Leo and Nico shared a look before Leo asked, “Got any Tampico?” 

Catalina’s mother grinned widely as she led them into the kitchen where she fed them carne asada tacos with salsa that made Nico’s face heat up. They spoke about camp and Leo told her all about how Cat was doing there and the different activities they did there. After a few minutes, Cat herself came out and began to help Leo explain how they were making Doctor Hazelnut, which her mother—Irma, Leo learned after Nico politely asked as he pointedly ate another taco without any salsa—found impressive as all else. 

“Well, when Cat comes back home after camp ends I’ll have to bring Doctor Hazelnut with her.” Leo said with a grin, which made Catalina gasp and kick her feet about underneath the table.

“Really? Are you sure?” She asked, Irma echoing lightly behind her daughter. 

Leo nodded his head. “Yeah, yeah. It’ll be fine. Besides with Nico around we can always come to visit and see you and Hazelnut. Like how we got over here with Mrs. O’Leary.” Which made Cat somehow beam even more at the thought of them visiting her at home. Like Leo _wasn’t_ going to visit Catalina after how much she’s grown onto him. She was with him nearly everyday. By the time she left, he would definitely miss her like hell. 

They left the Garcia home with hugs, a flimsy paper plate with a few tacos on it, a small cream cheese container filled with the best damn salsa Leo had had in _years_ , and a reassured happy Catalina who waved at her mom as she carefully cling to Nico’s back as she sat between him and Leo on top of Mrs. O’Leary. 

When Doctor Hazelnut finally got to walking about, Leo had picked up Catalina as they cheered and twirled around. His other siblings were laughing and cheering with them as they watched Doctor Hazelnut jump down from the table and begin to rub themself against Leo’s legs with a deep mechanic whirring purr. Leo let down Cat and watched as she pet at Doctor Hazelnut. 

“Thanks Leo.” Cat said as she grinned up at him. Her little pigtails were loose so Leo helped tighten them as he smiled back at her.

“No problem Gatita. Though next time maybe we can try something bigger, like a lion?” Leo thought out loud, already grabbing for a piece of paper. A lion would be good help for protecting their borders and just plain _badass_. Making its mane would be interesting, or maybe he could do a lioness? They were primarily hunters anyways. Cat climbed back onto her stool as she began to give Leo her thoughts, grabbing her own pencil to write down what she thought. Her handwriting was large and loopy and she asked now and again how to spell something and Leo could only grin at her as Doctor Hazelnut jumped back onto the table and meowed at them until they pet at their head. As they began to get ready for dinner, Leo couldn’t help but grin as he watched Cat run off ahead of him towards the Aphrodite cabin line, standing right behind Piper and with another sibling about her age, Doctor Hazelnut at her heels. 

“They sure grow up fast,” Leo said as he wiped at imaginary tears and glanced over at Nico, who wheeled over with a roll of his eyes. “We got Doctor Hazelnut up and running. And I added a new channel to the radio. Say hello to dates where I play only the soundtrack to Twilight in the background my dear.” 

Nico squinted up at Leo before raising up a hand to point an accusing finger at Leo as he said, “I can’t tell if you are joking or not but if you are. Stop getting my hopes up.”

Leo laughed loudly and leaned down to kiss his boyfriend's forehead. As they lined up, he couldn’t help a glance back at Catalina, who was expressively gesturing towards Doctor Hazelnut and grinning widely as she spoke to her siblings. Leo smiled and shoved his hands into his pants pockets, playing with an extra screw in his pocket as he began to walk towards the dining pavilion.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this! Thanks for reading! Leave a comment and a kudos <3


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